The Freeze Fest Camp - the morning after. After the big day, a get away canyon. A few years earlier, on a Freezefest, we had done the complete Stair Canyon. It was great fun

Canyoneering, Freeze Fest, North Wash, Tom Jones, Trip ReportTom JonesJanuary 2, 2007Malia McIlvenna, Stair Canyon, Steve Ramras, Wyoming Dave, freezefest, freeze fest, stair canyon, canyoneering

FreezeFest V: The Black Hole for New Year's Day!

Finally the big day dawns. No sense getting an early start, we mosey around camp awhile, then pack for the drive to the Black Hole. Mr. Dave Black joins us once again. Here's Malia's group shot, in the parking lot.

Canyoneering, Cedar Mesa, Freeze Fest, Tom Jones, Trip ReportTom JonesJanuary 1, 2007Black Hole, Black Hole canyoneering, Bruce from Bryce, Hank Moon, Jared Hillhouse, Malia McIlvenna, Steve Ramras, Wyoming Dave, freezefest, freeze fest, canyoneering, the black hole, cedar mesa

FreezeFest V: Hard Day Harvey in Wet Conditions, Ticaboo Mesa, UT

“No Stefanos, you won’t need a wetsuit”
“Ram, are you sure?”
“Yeah, it is a dry canyon, except after real storms and there haven’t been any for awhile”
“I don’t mind carrying it”
“Don’t bother”
Then Tom pipes in “But Ram is often wrong”

Canyoneering, Glen Canyon, Steve Ramras, Tom Jones, Trip ReportRamDecember 31, 2006Hard Day Harvey, ticaboo, ticaboo mesa, canyoneering, freezefest, freeze fest

FreezeFest V: Sandthrax Canyon, North Wash, UT

Yes, a couple other canyons were done. But the next BIG EVENT of note was a descent of Sandthrax Canyon by most of the gang on the 30th. Hank got a bunch of great pictures, and Ram wrote a wonderful trip report.

FreezeFest V: Escaping Shenanigans Canyon in Winter, North Wash, UT

I woke up feeling mean. The sky did not look so friendly either, so I ducked out and headed home to rest up for a few days. Ram and crew headed off to do Shenanigans Canyon, a canyon near and dear to my heart. Photos by Hank and Bruce.

FreezeFest V: Limbo Canyon, Ticaboo Mesa, UT

I dropped in on the night of the 26th, for the next day's exploration - Limbo Canyon. We had explored the slot next door in November, and it was good. So we wanted to get back and see what was next door.

Canyoneering, Exploration, North Wash, Tom Jones, Tom's First Visit, Trip Report, Freeze FestTom JonesDecember 27, 2006Aaron Ramras, Hank Moon, Limbo Canyon, Malia McIlvenna, Steve Ramras, ticaboo mesa, ticaboo, canyoneering, freezefest, freeze fest

FreezeFest V: Chambers Canyon, Robbers Roost

Herr Ram, Martina Centava, Young (cute) Ram, Hankamo, Wyoming Dave (reclining). Malia taking the pics.

Canyoneering, North Wash, Tom Jones, Trip Report, Robbers RoostTom JonesDecember 26, 2006Aaron Ramras, Chambers Canyon, Dave Pimental, Freeze Fest, FreezeFest, Martina Centava, Steve Ramras

Lodge Canyon & Mountain of the Sun Summit, Zion National Park, UT

The season is over, right? Well, not for a few die-hards. Comes 'round the first weekend of December, and folks were jonesin' for a canyon fix.

Canyoneering, Spry Canyon, Tom Jones, Trip Report, ZionTom JonesDecember 2, 2006Bruce from Bryce, Denise Manweiler, Hank Moon, Malia, lodge canyon, lodge, mountain of the sun

Zion Historical Photographs

Historical Photographs - While working on my Zion canyoneering guidebook, I came across the National Park Service Archive of Historical Photos and the USGS Archive of Photographs. Here are some from Zion I found interesting.

History, Photography, ZionTom JonesNovember 1, 2006black and white photos of Zion, National Park Service Archive of Historical Photos, USGS Archive of Photographs, zion, zion canyoneering, canyoneering

Grand Canyon National Park: Deer Creek Canyon

Deer Creek = Really Good! But it's at the bottom of a big ditch. As in, a really big ditch.

Canyoneering, Grand Canyon, Tom Jones, Trip Report, WaterfallsTom JonesOctober 20, 2006Chris Avery, Colorado River, Deer Creek, Deer Creek canyon, Nate Avery, rafting and canyoneering, canyoneering, grand canyon, grand canyon national park

Just Imlay and Heaps in A Day: The Zion National Park JIHAD

We had thought of it maybe two years ago. The ultimate enchainment: Zion's two heavy-hitters, Heaps Canyon and Imlay Canyon, in a day. If someone was going to do it, it should be us.

Canyoneering, Heaps Canyon, Imlay Canyon, Tom Jones, Trip Report, ZionTom JonesSeptember 23, 2006canyoneering jihad, Steve Brezovec, Steve Mallory, the jihad, jihad, heaps, imlay, zion, zion canyoneering, canyoneering

Telephone and Fat Mans Canyons, Zion National Park, UT

Thanks, Hank, for coming by and getting me out of the house. Two fine hikes and great companionship.

Canyoneering, Tom Jones, Trip Report, Wildflowers, ZionTom JonesMay 28, 2006canyon arches, Hank Moon, Misery Canyon, fat mans, fat mans misery, telephone, telephone canyon, zion, zion canyoneering, canyoneering

Hogfest, North Wash, UT

It was cold, windy and snowy. Hard to get motivated, sitting in Salt Lake, to head south and go freeze in the desert. But we'd promised Ram, so..

Canyoneering, North Wash, Tom Jones, Tom's First Visit, Trip ReportTom JonesFebruary 18, 2006Boss Hawg, Hank Moon, Hog I, Hog One, John Baise, Steve Ramras, Wyoming Dave, north wash, north wash canyoneering, canyoneering, the hogs, hog canyon, hog canyons

FreezeFest IV: No Kidding, Leprechaun, Stair, Hog, Achilles, Fooling' Around

Black Hole, New Year's Day - Truly, this IS The High Life! Thank you all for a wonderful Freezefest. Heck, we even had WOMEN! See ya in the New Year. (FreezeFest IV)

Robbers Roost Canyoneering: Not Mindbender and Hog Canyons

One of my favorite canyons in the Roost is Not Mindbender, a fork of the North Fork, or of the North-Middle Fork. A tasty one.

Canyoneering, Exploration, North Wash, San Rafael Swell, Tom Jones, Tom's First Visit, Trip ReportTom JonesNovember 12, 2005Brandt Hart, first descent, Hayduke Trail, Hog Canyon, Not Mindbender canyon, canyoneering, exploration, canyon exploration

Accumulated Canyoneering and Landscape Photographs

Got some pictures scanned - pretty wide variety this time. Hope you enjoy. Prints available, if you want, contact me.

Canyoneering, Photography, Tom JonesTom JonesNovember 2, 2005canyoneering photos, delicate arch photos, desert photography, photography, photographs, zion, zion photography

Aardvark Canyon, UT

Kris invited me out for a little canyon adventure in a system he had been exploring. Kris's neighbor, Keith, is a pilot and was flying back from Arizona when he spotted this interesting-looking canyon system in a fairly unlikely spot, took some photos and got Kris and a few neighbors interested.